


lonewolf

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/F - Category, M/M, Partner Betrayal, S/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 08:17:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/795938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why Blair heals so fast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lonewolf

## lonewolf

by Athena

Author's website:  <http://fateordestiny.com>

* * *

It was the third killing in two weeks; a large animal had attacked a man in the park after hours. The park had a sign in front that it was closed after twilight, but many young lovers and dog walkers ignored the sign. Jim Ellison looked at the dead man being sniffed by his dog. Apparently the dead man had been a lone dog walker that didn't heed the sign. Detective Ellison, sniffing around the wound, pushed the beagle away from the man. 

First Jim expected a rabid dog or wolf in the area since the wound looked like a large animal had torn chunks of flesh off the body, but there was no smell of rabies. The heart, liver, stomach and part of the intestines appeared to be missing from the open cavity. "The saliva smells like you," said Jim. 

"It's a wolf attack," Blair Sandburg, the junior detective said. "My spirit guide is the wolf; I'm not surprised that I smell like wolf. When is Major Crimes involved with animal control?" 

Ellison looked at the body as Sandburg put the evidence in labeled bags. "I don't smell like cat. You're hiding something, something that might pertain to this case." Ellison had never questioned why Sandburg had smelled like dog before; he just figured it was part of Sandburg's unique odor. 

While Ellison was bagging other evidence, Sandburg sniffed the torn shirt for clues. "Wolf attacks in Washington are unusual, but not unheard of. I'm surprised there is no signs of rabies," Sandburg said matter-of-factly. 

"The wound is disease free," Jim said. Jim could smell no rabies in the exposed body cavity. "We'll talk when we get home." 

Ellison and Sandburg waited for backup to arrive. Ellison went over the attack with animal control and forensics. Sandburg needed to tell Jim that his people weren't responsible for the attack. It smelled from werewolf, but not from the local pack. Each pack was a family and had a unique scent. 

After Sandburg and Ellison had finished the paperwork at the station, Ellison drove home. "You're going to tell me why a vicious animal attack smells like you." 

"It doesn't. It isn't my pack. It smells nothing like me," Sandburg explained as they sat in the privacy of Jim's truck. That animal smells as much like me as you smell like any other human being or a beaver smells like another beaver. 

"Sandburg, speak English." Jim put his hand on Blair's shoulder at the light. 

"When William called you a freak, he was wrong; there is only one freak at 852 Prospect. You have the right to know. I have kept it from you long enough." 

Jim followed Blair up the stairs. Blair could feel Jim's breath on his back. Jim locked the door behind them. "Talk." 

"You know that I heal fast. I was up and around after the golden incident. I was running after Barnes after she drowned me. I'm a werewolf. My father was a werewolf that makes me half-pack." 

Jim sat beside Blair. "You're serious." 

"Why would I worry about your cholesterol while I'm downing three hot dogs? I'm a treehugger. Man, if I didn't crave meat, I'd be a vegetarian like my mother." 

"What does being a werewolf mean? You don't howl at the moon." 

"Sometimes, I do." Blair blushed. 

"Is it contagious? Is that why you won't join me in bed? We have been cuddling and kissing for years and when I suggest that you join me in bed you change the subject or lock yourself in your room. Here I thought you were having trouble dealing with your attraction for your male roommate and felt like kicking you out on your ass for being a tease." 

"No, it's genetic. A person changing into a werewolf from a bite is movie magic. I could change during sex. I don't even jerk off in the loft. Jim, nothing would please me more than to give you head. Your sex smells so good." Blair's hands shook. "I can't risk it, man." 

Jim took Blair's hand and stroked it. "Change, as in change into a wolf?" 

Blair undressed. "I don't have control like a full-blooded werewolf. Once I change, I'm a wolf until dawn. Open the door, please. In a few minutes, I won't have thumbs. Man, you think the way I talk I would miss my voice, but, when I change, I miss my thumbs more than anything else." 

Jim opened the front door. 

"The balcony is better." Blair's voice got soft. "The only people to see me change are my mother and Vicky, the girl that I lost my virginity with." 

"What happened to Vicky?" 

"She was a little frightened. I saw her the next Monday at Rainer Student Union. She crossed herself and ran away from me." 

"You have a way with the women." 

"I love it when I make a woman grab for her rosary," Blair shivered a bit. "Time to grow a fur coat." Blair relaxed and let nature take its course. He felt his body twist and his wolf skin grew from the inside out. Jim would be angry with the mess that his bodily fluids spilling out caused on the clean floor. Blair got onto all fours and shook out his fur. 

Jim stepped back a bit. Blair walked over to him and rubbed his fur against Jim's leg. Jim petted Blair's back and then behind an ear. "Blair, do you understand me?" 

The wolf's muzzle nodded. Jim opened the balcony door. Blair needed to chase rabbits or whatever he did in this form. Jim watched the wolf leap from the third floor balcony to the street below keeping his eye on the lone wolf on the dark street as a light rain started to fall. 

* * *

Jim had seen Incacha do magic and was fairly comfortable with being visited by ghosts and angels but his roommate just changed into a wolf. He needed a beer. He needed more than a beer, but there was nothing stronger in the loft and he couldn't trust himself to drive. 

Jim took out a book he had been putting off reading. Opening the first page, he read about an imaginary things going bump in the night. He prayed that Blair wasn't protecting the werewolf that killed those three victims. Blair didn't appear to be lying when he said that those deaths weren't caused by his pack. 

Blair knew almost everything about Jim. They had a joint bank account, joint ownership of the building, and each other's general and medical power of attorneys. Legally, they were married as much as two men could be married. The dispute with Sid and the publishing company over submitting his work to the university without Blair's consent was in both their names. Jim didn't care that he held his property jointly with Blair. However, he signed the property over to his roommate as a sign of trust and now he felt like his trust had been broken. 

In the morning, Blair knocked on the front door of the loft. "Thanks for not letting me hide my spare key." Blair was bare foot but he was otherwise dressed normally in his threadbare jeans and flannel shirts. 

"Hide your key wherever you hide your clothes," said Jim. "You're a smart man. I now understand why you need a spare key. Just don't put it where a robber can find it." 

Blair went inside and started making his algae shake. "I need calories." 

"You've been a werewolf your whole life," said Jim. "I have to get used to the concept." 

"Is there anything you want to know?" Blair sat at the table with his shake. 

"Have you always been able to change your form?" 

"Since I hit puberty. When I was eleven and twelve, I changed almost every night. I got better at control in time. Now I only change into a wolf when I release control." 

"Are you human or wolf?" 

"Human during the day; wolf at night. Were-wolf, human-wolf, both or neither." 

"Full moons don't mean anything to you?" 

"Not really. I can see better in the light of the full moon." 

"You don't kill people?" 

"Of course not. You're talking to Blair Sandburg, pacifist. I eat rabbits and an occasional small deer, squirrels, rodents, weasels, muskrat. Naomi thinks if I eat organ meat that I won't need to kill as often." 

"That's the story behind her making tongue." 

"Are you ok with this?" 

"You change into a wolf. The nights you aren't in the loft you hunt for prey." 

"That's it." 

"I preferred think that you had a different girl each night or you worked all night in your office. Blair, this is a bit much for me to take in. Do you know other werewolves?" 

Blair shrugged his shoulders. 

"I'll take that as a yes. One of these werewolves could be our killer?" 

"No, I refuse to believe that. Killing human beings hurts the pack," said Blair. The odor told him that it wasn't his pack. The odor was distinctively not his family, but he would need to sniff the shirt again to properly track the killer. Beside one weak half-breed couldn't kill a rogue werewolf with a passion for human flesh. He needed help from the pack to find the rogue wolf. 

"Will finding the killer interfere with pack loyalty?" Jim wasn't comfortable that Blair had loyalties outside Jim and the Cascade Police Force. Inside the young man drinking his algae shake was a monster that could rip out Jim's throat like that creature did last night at the park. His roommate of four years and a man he thought he knew better than his brother was now a total stranger. 

"Blair, is silver the only thing that kills werewolves?" 

"Fire and removing the heart and brain also works." Blair shouldn't have told James Ellison how to kill his people. Blair felt bad for not telling Jim that he knew his father's people. Naomi had taught him to never let anyone know about his father's people at young age and didn't put his father's name on his birth certificate. Blair was born with a midwife on a commune. That is how his mother avoided getting silver nitrate drops into his eyes and blinding him. Silver nitrate was used in the sixties at hospitals to prevent blindness caused by gonorrhea. 

"You were going to wake up after the drowning no matter what I did?" 

"Pretty much." 

"Then, why was I screaming 'This can't be happening'? I shouldn't bother taking you to the hospital the next time you're hurt. You'll heal just as fast at home." 

"For the most part. I'm probably better off having a bullet or other foreign matter removed then waiting for my body to absorb it." 

"Why didn't you tell me? I was so angry that you refused to join me in bed. Lately, I was so tempted to kick you out for that reason alone. I didn't think you were so religious that it was morality that was keeping you out of my bed. How could you deceive me like this?" 

"Jim, I didn't think you could handle it." 

"You kiss too good not to be attracted to me. You should have told me." 

"You didn't need to know. Only Naomi and my pack know." 

"And Vicky," added Jim. 

"Yes, Vicky. I've never had sex with anyone. I had only started to penetrate Vicky when I felt it happen. I never got that close ever again. My cock was only known Rosie and her five sisters. I wanted you as badly as you wanted me, but I couldn't risk clawing you." 

"How are we going to get a perp to respect me that laughs at bullets?" 

"I don't laugh at bullets. I'm not fond of pain." 

"Someone who is killing people won't be as sensible as you. I don't think Simon will splurge for silver bullets." 

"We should have our own take care of it. I'll speak to the pack about it. My father was the alpha of the Cascade pack until he died. They'll listen to me." 

"So you knew your father." 

"Yes. My father wanted me to go school here so he could protect me. Other packs will kill me if they discover that I'm a half-breed. Without my father's protection, I would have been killed as a baby. As it is, the new alpha isn't sure what do with me, but his wife is a half-breed so he won't kill me on that basis alone." 

"I'm not going to let a bunch of vigilantes go after a suspect." 

"Jim, stay out of it." 

"I knew your mother was lying when she said that your father was Tim Leary." 

"Albert Feldman was a professor at Rainer. His widow and my half-sisters are embarrassed by my existence. Still the pack respects me as his eldest and only son." 

"I'm meeting the pack with you." 

"You aren't pack." 

"Why shouldn't I go to Simon with this?" 

"Because he won't believe you." 

"I'm not going to let my roommate and a bunch of vigilantes feast on the brain and heart of the evil-doer. This isn't some late night horror movie." 

"You don't belong there. Our pack meetings are clothing optional, very optional." 

"I can see you hunting in the night in wolf-skin, but I can't see you argue with your half-sisters in the buff." 

"My half-sisters are sixteen and nineteen, practically cubs. I'm so happy that you find my family life to be one big joke." 

"Until yesterday, your family life was you and Naomi. Now you have this extended family that includes people that wake from drownings and shake out their fur." 

"My sisters are full werewolves. They can change shape at will." 

"Do you have any heightened senses?" 

"I told you I tested many people that had one or two heightened senses. You assumed because I wear glasses that my other senses weren't heightened. I have very good distance vision and night vision but I have trouble focusing on small print and tiny computer fonts, so I need reading glasses. In other words, I'm farsighted. I can smell better than most people and can hear a larger range of pitch. I would have told you if you asked." 

"How heightened?" 

"My senses are nothing like yours. You amaze me. In wolf form, my sense of smell might be comparable to yours. I don't think even a full-blooded werewolf can hear a man falling from a helicopter." 

"Nothing like mine?" Jim smiled. 

"You're the man." 

"Is a full blooded werewolf sense of smell better than mine?" 

"In wolf form, yes," said Blair. "You are the only human being I know with your senses. We better get to work. Simon is going to yell at us for being late." 

"I have news that could break the case wide open and my junior partner wants me to stay closed-lipped." 

"Don't push me on this. If it came down between you and the pack, blood is thicker than water." 

"You would throw me to the wolves?" Jim couldn't believe he said that. That was a bad pun even for him. 

"You call Simon and tell him we'll be late," said Blair. "I'm going to call Juan Lopez. He's current pack leader. I'm engaged to his daughter, Sara Maria." 

"You don't act like a betrothed man." 

"She's sixteen. We're planning to wait until she's twenty-one. It's an arranged marriage. One of her grandparents is human; no full breed wolf wants her. She doesn't want to lose her position. Since I have no authority and would always be on the bottom of the totem pole, I have long accepted that I would never marry or sire children. I have argued with Juan for years that it would be better if she married into another pack, but he says the marriage would benefit both of us." 

"Chief, you're a political animal," said Jim. 

"If Juan will see you, you have to behave yourself. You'll be on his turf." Blair took his phone to the bedroom and closed the French doors. Jim would overhear but Blair could pretend to have privacy. "Juan, there's a rogue werewolf killing people in the park. I thought our people patrolled the park." 

"Over half the pack has been out of town the last two weeks. We were invited to help the Vancouver pack and you know politics. We're a small pack; you know the deal." 

"Someone should have been roaming the park. I would have gone with an adolescent if you had asked. Now, the cops are on our backs." 

"Your cop friend knows about it." 

"He wants to meet with you." 

"You told him." 

"He said the killer smelled like me," Blair explained. "I should have told him years ago. Jim is closer to me than family." 

"Bring him." 

* * *

Blair gave Jim directions to a large house outside Cascade. There was a kennel outside with Siberian Huskies. "Juan breeds dogs," explained Blair. 

"A werewolf that breeds dogs," said Jim. 

"They respect him as the alpha male." Blair rang the bell. A sturdy man a little shorter than Blair answered the door and hugged him fiercely. The man smelled more like Blair than Naomi did; that wolf musk. 

"It's good to see you." Juan was only wearing a red bathrobe. His legs were hairy in human form and he looked he didn't shave for several days. 

"Juan, it has been too long," said Blair. "You have to let me help guard our lands. I no longer have a killer college schedule." 

"You need to come to our next pack meeting. I'll schedule you to help guard our land from intruders. I've been worried because you are only half. I won't let my wife guard our lands for the same reason. It isn't worth risking your life." After Juan had closed the door, the bathrobe was left on the sofa. 

"I need to help," Blair said. "We can't have rogue werewolves eating people in the park. That gets out to other packs and we'll be targeted as weak." 

"We don't have many males this generation," Juan said. "I have three sons but they are all too young to add to the population. Camilla is pregnant with twins, her first litter." 

Camilla, wearing a button down housedress came into the room followed by a naked three-year-old boy. "Would you gentlemen like tea and cookies?" 

"That would be great." Jim sat on one of the cushion on the floor hoping that his wounded leg wouldn't act up. 

"Blair has thin human blood. He is only warm with a thick coat of fur." Juan took the tray of cookies from his wife as Camilla placed the pitcher and cups on counter between the kitchen and living room. The five room ranch house looked larger from the outside. There was only a kitchen too small to eat-in, one bathroom, a living room and three rather small bedrooms. The living room and kitchen area could easily fit into the loft. 

"Is Sara Maria at school?" asked Blair. 

"Camilla only homeschools the younger ones. Ria insisted on going to high school. Her younger brother now wants to go to school with normal kids. The younger generation doesn't understand that we educate our own," Juan said as he ate the hard shortbread cookies. 

Jim ate a hard flavorless cookie and washed it down with ice tea. The weak tea had too much sugar for his liking, but he assumed that werewolves needed more calories than normal people and sugar was a cheap source of calories. At least, seven people lived in a space smaller than his loft. The floors were all a dingy gray tile and the house smelled strongly from animal waste. The furnishings were sparse and worn to the springs. He wasn't about to look in the bedrooms but he doubted that the children had more than mattresses on the floor and tattered old dressers to put their clothes. However, poverty alone wasn't child abuse and he couldn't report the Lopezes to a child welfare department. Besides, what would the foster care system do with wolf-children? It was better for them to be raised by their own. He didn't blame Juan; he was doing like his fathers before him. 

"Sara Maria wants to move the wedding up. All those hormones have kicked in and she's afraid human males are too weak." 

"I'm a cop. She's a nice girl, but it'll look bad if I marry a 16 year old." 

"Detective." Juan smiled. His teeth were a bit too white for Jim. "It's been a while since one of our own has been in the force in Cascade." 

"I told Ria that I'd marry her a week after her eighteen birthday, but I'd rather wait until she's twenty-one." 

"You aren't sleeping with this human? He has your smell all over him." 

"Hell, no," said Blair. "We share a house and cuddle." 

"Ellison," Juan said in a soft voice. "Wolves mate for life." 

"And Naomi and Blair's father?" asked Jim. The cushion Jim was sitting on was covered with wolf hair and was causing him to itch through his clothes. Jim sneezed abruptly. "Allergies. Dog hair. I'm surprised I didn't start sneezing sooner." 

"A mistake," said Juan. "A man has needs. The family has always greeted Blair and Naomi with open arms." 

"Naomi liked living with the pack," said Blair. "She liked the clothing optional part the best." 

"She struck me as a closet nudist," said Jim. 

Blair took off his jacket and then his two shirts. "Do you mind if I undress?" 

"Don't get furry on me." Jim got up and grabbed a couple more tasteless cookies and more overly sweet tea. 

"I won't," said Blair. "Juan and I need to talk. Ria should be here." 

"She's a straight A student," said Juan. 

"Intelligence runs in the family," said Blair. "Juan and I are cousins. Juan's mother is Albert's older sister. Juan is only four years older than I." 

"Camilla was thirteen and I was fourteen when we married. We didn't wait like the older generation," Juan said. "Blair should have been married for at least a decade by now. Albert didn't want him to marry because Blair is a half-breed but I'm alpha now." 

"I had my studies," Blair said. 

"I noticed the family resemble," said Jim. 

After Blair took off his briefs, he climbed onto the sofa next to Juan for warmth. Juan rubbed and sniffed Blair's hair. Blair pressed his body against Juan seemingly unaware of his erection. Jim just stared; knowing better than yelling he's mine to a werewolf. 

"Your human is jealous," said Juan. 

Blair leaned into Juan's furry chest and licked his chest hair. "Jim, join us on the sofa. Three bodies make a better dog pile." 

"I just learned that you're a werewolf last night," said Jim. "I need time to adjust." 

"Your loss," said Blair. "We cuddle at home all the time." 

"With clothes on," said Jim, "besides he's your cousin." 

"I'm engaged to Ria. It's perfectly legal to marry your cousin once-removed in California and several other states." 

"But not Washington," said Jim. 

Juan's arms were wrapped around Blair and his tongue was licking behind Blair's ear. Blair snuggled into him like it was the most natural thing in the world to be making out with his male cousin. Jim peeked to see if Juan was circumcised; he never looked at Blair in the shower or the station because Jim had always assumed that Blair was since he was Jewish. Both of the naked men on the sofa were cut, how could that be? Cut flesh on a werewolf would grow back. The flesh must have been burnt off or did cutting it off with a silver knife prevent it from growing back. 

"True, but only my mother's name is on the birth certificate." Blair let out a little moan as Juan lightly nibbled on his neck. "You're not stupid enough to tell the pack that Ria and I are breaking some antiquated law. One-sixteenth isn't the close. Since Naomi isn't pack, I probably have less alleles in common with her than a full-blooded member of another pack." 

"You barely know the girl," said Jim. 

"We talk on the Internet. We hunt together. I've always showed an interest in her studies." Blair nuzzled into Juan's hairy chest and curled his legs up under him. "I'm thirty. She's sixteen." 

"And you are going to marry her?" 

"I can't marry a human being," said Blair. "I lack the control a full-blooded werewolf has. Once I change, I'm that way till morning. My hormones race and I end up spending half my life with four legs. Ria wants me because I'm the former alpha's son. An alpha from another pack won't take her because Camilla is half like I am." 

Jim saw Blair's puppy dog eyes in a new light. "Let's talk about the attack." 

"Blair told you he wasn't one of ours," said Juan. 

"The attacker was male?" asked Jim. 

"Couldn't you smell it?" asked Blair. "Some sentinel you are!" 

"Are you sure he isn't yours?" Jim asked. 

"We have only twenty-two pack members. I know all their odors," Blair said. 

"And are there other packs in the area?" Jim asked. 

"Not in the Seattle-Cascade metropolitan area. We'll take care of the rogue. Tell your captain it was an animal attack," Juan said. 

"That's it?" Jim said. 

"Blair, come over tonight without the human," said Juan. "We have pack business." 

"Of course, cousin." Blair got off the sofa, took his clothes from the pile Jim made then started getting dressed. "Jim, are you ok with this?" 

"If you know all your pack members by smell, why did you make me smell all that perfume?" 

"I was testing your abilities. I know what I'm capable of besides by the third or fourth bottle, I'm totally useless. Everything starts smelling the same." Blair finished dressing. "You're truly amazing." Blair gave Juan a good-bye hug then followed Jim to the truck. Jim turned on the radio. "Simon told us to take the rest of the day off. According to Cousin Juan, we have nothing more to tell him." 

"Man, I know you want to help but I have to see the pack without you." 

"Chief, where does this put you and me?" 

"Nothing has changed." 

Jim yelled over the morning chatter on the radio. "You're a werewolf!" 

"I've been one all my life. Carlos, Juan and Camilla's three year old, is a werewolf. The babies in Camilla's womb are werewolves. You don't get it from a bite. Blair Sandburg has brown curly hair, blue eyes and is a werewolf. Do you want me to move out?" 

"No." Jim turned off the radio. This conversation was getting serious. "I never pressured you to have sex with me." 

"Why?" Blair put a hand on Jim's shoulder. 

"Because you call me your Blessed Protector. I worried that you would agree to something you didn't want to please me." 

"Jim, this is serious. I can kill you during sex." 

"You're going to marry Ria?" 

"You have been married before. You may marry, again. I'll never have my father's control. He was very gentle with Naomi. You could end up like that dog owner in the park." 

"Blair, you would never hurt me." Jim called him Blair, not Chief or Sandburg. He had lived with Blair for four years and knew almost everything there was to know about the man. Well, the werewolf thing caught him by surprise, but Blair was a gentle loving soul. 

"You don't know that." 

"I know you're willing to risk your life for a total stranger." 

"I wasn't risking my life. Werewolves are hard to kill." 

"You've risked pain then. Your bones break the same as everyone else. You spend almost as much time in the emergency room as I do. Blair Sandburg would never hurt me." 

"My body can twist and change. Do you want to be part of that puddle that formed on your carpet?" 

"Do you want to leave me?" 

"I don't know. I'm the same person I was yesterday. I want you to continue to hug, cuddle and pet me." 

"You aren't a dog." 

A tear rolled down Blair's cheek. "Sometimes, I'm more doglike than human. I would hate myself if in a moment of pain I dug my claws into your beautiful body." 

"We can do as little or as much as you are comfortable with." 

"Thank you. Please, let me talk to Juan without you." 

"You're a detective now." Jim looked at the road and the passing trees. "Talk to your expert witnesses. You don't need to stay in the truck anymore. It's your case." 

* * *

Blair stayed in his room the rest of the day until it was time to see Juan. "Jim, I'll tell you everything that happens. We're partners?" 

"Forever." Jim's voice had a tone of sadness. 

"Then trust me." 

"Coming from you those are the scariest two words in the English language." 

"Verdad. Hasta luego, amigo." Blair left the loft and drove away in the Volvo. Blair, me confias is just as scary. Trust me was frightening in any language. Later, that night, when Jim smelled wet dog and Blair, Jim opened the balcony door. A happy but rained on wolf was standing there. 

"You climbed the fire escape?" 

The wolf nodded. 

"You better come in and dry your fur by the fireplace. The guppy look is out." 

The wolf followed Jim inside. As Jim put another log on the fire, the wolf shook out his fur, getting the floor wet. 

"You understand what I'm saying. The only reason you aren't mopping the floor is lack of hands." Jim mopped up the puddle while the wolf warmed himself at the fire. After he put the mop and bucket in the kitchen, Jim rubbed the wolf's tummy. Then he rested his head against the timber wolf's side. "Chief, you would never hurt me in your pain. I trust you. Why can't you trust yourself? You didn't hurt Vicky. You won't hurt me." 

Jim heard light footsteps and a gentle banging on the balcony door. A naked Hispanic girl, slender about 5'3", stood on his balcony. Couldn't anyone use the front door? Jim opened the door. "You must be Sara Maria Lopez?" 

She shook Jim's hand. "My friends call me Ria. You must excuse me. After chasing your friend in the rain, I didn't have time to stop for clothes." 

Jim handed her one of Blair's t-shirts. "He won't mind." 

Ria put the shirt on. "Thanks. We need to get a scrap of the victim's clothing. We should be able to sniff him out as long as he hasn't left town." 

"You want me to steal from the evidence room?" 

"If we don't find him, he'll kill again. He's got a taste for human blood." 

"Can't this wait till morning?" 

"Papa says we should sniff him out tonight." 

"You're lucky that people in forensics like me. You stay here with Blair and try not to make a litter in my living room." 

"Man, I'm not in heat." Ria crossed her eyes. "All you humans think about is sex." 

Jim grabbed his wallet and keys. "Why do I feel like I entered the Twilight Zone?" 

"We try to keep humans out of our business. Blair trusts you and that is good enough for me." 

"Stay here. I'll get something with the perp's scent on it." Jim locked the door behind him. Ria was pretty in a jailbait sort of way. She had long black hair, small breasts and a firm ass. She had thick black hair on her arms and legs; Jim liked his women less furry but then she was Blair's girl. 

Jim told Chang, who was finishing paperwork, that he needed to borrow the victim's shirt. "Why?" yawned the woman. 

"I might be able to follow the scent and locate the perp." 

"A car will ruin the trail," said Serena Chang. 

"I can try." 

"Return it before nine o'clock tomorrow morning." 

Jim came back to the loft with the torn shirt. Two wolves were lying on his floor; the smaller female changed shape, returning to human. 

Ria slipped on the tee shirt. "You got the shirt. Drive us to the park." 

"You're a sixteen year old girl. I'm a cop. You don't tell me what to do. I give the orders." 

"The human wants to be in control." 

"Little Miss, what do you think we should do?" 

"You should drop us at the park and then go to my father's house and let the others smell the shirt. Twenty noses are better than two." 

Jim suddenly realized Blair's smartass genes came from the Lopez side of the family. "Blair's ok like that." 

"Right as rain," said Ria. "Blair, we need you to help us find the rogue. He passed his academy courses and his detective exam. That's makes him as much of a cop as you." You, asshole, the asshole part was understood. 

Blair got into the truck after Ria. She put the window down, so Blair could feel the wind in his face. 

"The creature that killed those three people will kill you and Blair." 

"Then, you better get help." 

"Are you going to boss Blair around?" 

"I'm a hot Spanish bitch. He could do worse than me." 

"You want him?" 

"He's smart, fun to be with. He's a bit old but he has a young spirit, besides he's a good hunter. You humans hunt with a gun. Where's the chase? Blair is only armed with his wits, teeth and claws. Any bitch would be lucky to have him. You have never seen him with fresh-killed weasel in his mouth." 

Blair with fresh-killed weasel, mink or rabbit in his mouth wasn't a picture Jim needed in his mind's eye. Blair never said he hunted alone. What little Jim knew about wolves was they hunted in packs, the alpha male and female had all the litters and the other wolves watched the young. Blair hunted with his pack that included Ria. 

"Sugar, he spends more nights with me than he does with you. He'll take good care of me and the cubs, and if Naomi messes with me, she'll learn what a real bitch can do." 

Jim stopped the truck at the park. Ria pulled off the t-shirt and returned to being a wolf. Jim gave the two wolves the blood and saliva covered shirt to smell then returned to Juan's house. Juan didn't have his bathrobe on this time. The living room had twelve naked people and eight wolves. "Jim, what brings you?" 

"I have the shirt. Sniff it. Find the killer," said Jim. 

"Your heart rate is through the roof and you're flooding the room with adrenaline," said Juan. 

"I'm not comfortable with the werewolf thing." 

"The fear base response shit." 

"Blair gave out my secrets." 

"He gave out our fucking secret. What the fuck. We hold yours, an even trade." Juan smiled with those too white teeth. 

Jim handed Juan the ripped shirt. "I need it back. Do other werewolves have Ria control?" 

"She's my daughter. Her children will be strong. She and Blair are a good match," Juan said in a near growl. 

Jim went outside. In fifteen minutes, Juan handed Jim the shirt. "You don't like me very much." 

"I'm not used to taking orders from a naked man." 

"I don't need to get dressed for people that invade my fucking territory." 

Jim took the shirt and drove his truck back toward the loft feeling helpless. He couldn't stand in the way of supernatural creatures. He got halfway to the loft when he decided to go against his better judgment. 

* * *

The large city park main entrance was chained off. Near the paved road was a baseball field. The paved road emptied into a large parking lot. Trees lined the parking lot. Beyond the parking lot were a playground with swings, metal slides and a modern plastic jungle gym with tunnels and slides. Past the playground were thick trees and a few muddy hiking paths. Ria and Blair were in the clearing in the wooded area a distance from the parking lot. 

Blair couldn't smell the alien wolf. However, his scent was on the trees and several paths. He had marked this park as his own. Blair urinated over the other wolf's smell. Two could play that game. He needed to find a fresh trail. The rogue wolf would be back. He killed the two women and the man at this park. Blair and Ria would be waiting for him. 

Ria found fresh trail first. Blair then caught the trail. The rogue, standing in the baseball field, growled at Ria. Blair growled at the other male wolf. She is my bitch. Ria circled the wolf. Blair snapped at the wolf's tail. Getting underneath the larger male, Ria dug her fangs into the rogue's neck. 

The male pushed her off. She got a mouthful of chest. Blair stuck his fangs into the wolf's leg. The wolf turned to try to nip at Ria. She lost hold on his chest. Blair kept a hold on the leg and dug in. As Ria growled at the male, Blair bit off the leg. 

Blair had the leg in his mouth and tossed it onto the blacktop. The wolf leg changed into a human leg soon after it hit the ground. Blair went for the jugular as Ria bit the wolf by the ass. The wolf was losing lots of blood. Blair held onto the wolf with Ria bringing her jaw and front paws down on the wolf's backend. 

Blair remembered when David Lash had him tied down and drugged. Lash had knocked him out. He hated being at someone's mercy. He also hated that he enjoyed the taste of werewolf flesh, human flesh. He didn't want to be like the creature that he had brought down. Brought down was a euphemism for killed, and he needed to be honest with himself. At this moment he felt he was as much of a monster as Lash. He needed Jim to hug him and tell him it would be all right. 

The fact he was having these thoughts meant he had a conscious. The werewolf returned to human form as Ria opened the chest to eat the heart. The other members of the pack had arrived and were feasting on the carcass. Blair had footsteps of a man wearing shoes. The pack had saved the man's life. The man would probably call animal control about a crazed wolf pack. Then, Blair smelled Jim; it was Jim. Jim was here, his Blessed Protector. 

Blair went over to Jim and licked his hand. He isn't bending down to let me lick his face. I did something wrong. Blair didn't know what he did wrong. He found the bad guy. He brought him down like Jim had done in the past. He used his sense of smell to find the murderer. This was better than hunting with Ria. 

Jim bent down to pat the battle worn creature with Blair's smell and put his head against his blood-matted fur. "Chief, I miss you. I want to see your face, again. I miss your blue eyes." 

Blair curled into a ball as Jim hugged and petted him. The wolf yowled in pain. He was changing form like Ria had done. The muzzle shortened to a human face, the limbs lengthened and the hair grew in. Jim backed an inch away. 

Blair sat up and looked at Jim through human eyes. "Jim, you did the impossible. You're amazing." 

"You've been saying that a lot the last few days." 

Blair stood up and admired his fingers. "You don't know how nice thumbs are until you don't have them. My backpack has an extra set of clothing in it." 

Jim put an arm around him. "You look cold." 

"My weak half-human blood. No one or nothing should be able to change a werewolf back to human, outside death, injury and poison." 

"Chief, it is still dark." 

"It must be our bond. I can bring you out of zones. You claim you response to my voice in a magical way. Man, the magic goes both way!" 

"You ate someone," said Jim. 

"You put five bullets in Lash and killed other people in the line of duty." 

Jim repeated, "You ate him." 

"Ria got the heart," said Blair. "I'm not proud of what I've done. I was born a werewolf and I choose to be a cop." 

"Still you ate someone." 

"He killed three people. You've been in the army and I've seen you shoot people. Don't give me this holier than thou shit." 

"Killing someone isn't eating part of their stomach and their leg." 

"Werewolves eat their dead. You talk about the bait and shoot programs being a waste. You said the venison should go to the homeless shelters," said Blair. "His death fed the pack." 

Jim was fuming. Cannibalism was not the same as killing someone in the line of duty. The two things could not be compared. "What happened to your father?" 

"He was killed by the alpha male of another pack." 

"Blair Sandburg, pacifist, can't approve of this gang war mentality unless that was a lie, too." 

"I need to get in the truck. My goosebumps have goosebumps. The clothes I was wearing earlier today are in the Volvo parked outside Juan's house." 

"We'll be in the truck soon. I'll put on the heat. We wouldn't want you to die of frostbite. We need to talk. Can werewolves get frostbite?" 

"A full-blooded werewolf no," said Blair. "I'm only half werewolf." 

Jim gave Blair his jacket. Blair wrapped the jacket around his shivering body. "Better?" asked Jim. 

"Much. My father died because he went to a conference on an old enemy's turf. He explained to the other pack that he was only traveling on business and he meant no ill will. The alpha challenged him. Al emailed Juan that he would handle it. That was the last anyone heard of my father." 

Jim unlocked the truck. Blair took his extra clothes from his bag and started dressing. Jim noticed the rest of the pack and the dead body were gone. Jim started the truck and turned on the heat. 

"You don't approve of vigilante justice." 

"I'm nothing. Naomi was afraid the pack would eat me at birth. Al sent her away from the pack. I wasn't born a Feldman because many packs don't let creatures like me live. Al always promised Naomi no harm would come to me. Al was the alpha male and spoke for the pack." 

"Ria speaks for herself." 

"Ria speaks for father," said Blair. "Our pack mentality goes back generations. What choice do I have? I live somewhere else and that pack will hunt me down because I'm a half-breed." 

"You've gone on expeditions." 

"To places without werewolf or timber wolf populations. I'm very careful." Blair didn't have any shoes in his bag. 

"I should kick you out." 

"I'll ask Simon for a transfer. Narcotics seemed interested." 

"You're short with long hair; you'll blend in at drug raids." 

"And I can sniff out drugs," teased Blair. 

"But they don't know that. I need you to work with me. You ground me with your presence. It's not only that. I care about you. I don't want you to go. Blair, I love you." 

"I'm this creature that just ate someone. My life is all planned out. I marry Ria; we have cubs. I stay under pack protection. You don't fit into this." 

"They sound worse that than the Mafia." 

"The Mafia has nothing on them. I'm loyal to my family. I'm also loyal to you and CPD. Don't make me choose." 

"I want you in my life." 

"What we have is special." Blair leaned against Jim. "No one should have been able to do what you've done. I have always stay a wolf until sunrise." 

"I just asked for my Blair back." 

Blair put an arm around Jim's waist. "I'm here." Blair kissed Jim's face when they stopped at a light. 

"What do you want from me?" Jim said as the light turned. 

"Affection. Love. I wish I knew." 

* * *

Jim turned to Blair when he parked in front of the loft. He stroked Blair's face. Blair's beard was soft like his hair had been growing three or four days. "You are so beautiful." Jim put his thumb on Blair's lip. "Can I kiss you?" 

"Jim, don't." 

"You said Ria's mother is half and she is having babies every other year." Jim touched Blair's chin. 

"Under Juan's protection." 

"Tell me that you don't love me." Jim pressed his lips against Blair's lips. Blair's mouth gave into the pressure and opened. Jim felt like he might zone as he continued to kiss Blair as Blair's arms wrapped tightly around him. Jim finally broke the kiss still fondling Blair's hair. 

"It doesn't change a thing." 

"We both need some sleep. We'll talk in the morning. I'll return the shirt and tell them the wolf was killed and the body was eaten by scavengers." Jim left the truck and walked up the stairs. 

Blair sat in the vehicle a few minutes before following. He didn't want to be part of the pack. He never joined the pack in its gang wars claiming that he was a weak half-breed and a liability. Tonight, he showed that he was as strong as the others. Not that gang wars were a large problem. The last one was over three years ago and no blood was shed. All they did was growl, sniff each other, and part company. 

Blair went up to the loft, went to his room and shut the French doors. He would talk to Jim in the morning. He wanted to speak to Juan but he didn't know what to say to him. Blair's cell phone rang; it was Juan. "I don't know what to say." 

"I saw what happened." 

"Jim has powerful magic." 

"He loves you." 

"I'm go to marry Ria." Blair walked outside to the balcony. 

"You can't even start dating her for two years. Enjoy his company." 

"What if Ria kills Jim in a fit of passion." 

"I'll talk to my daughter and explain that it doesn't involve her." 

"I didn't think about that till now. Ria smelled my odor on Jim. She isn't a little girl anymore. If I continue to live with him, she's going to kill him." 

"It doesn't hurt to the pack. Jim can't have your children." 

"Ria isn't going to see it that way. She's going to see it through the eyes of a scorned woman." 

"She knows that you've been living with Jim for four years." 

"A twelve year old sees things differently than a sixteen year old. She met Jim. She has seen the love in his eyes. I'll have to move and get a transfer at work." 

"He'll be heart-broken." 

"I need to keep him safe. I love him so much." 

"Come over this afternoon and we'll talk to Ria." 

"I accept my obligation to the pack." 

"Pack your things. We'll talk in person." 

"I have to see Simon about transferring." 

* * *

Blair was gone by the time Jim got up. Only his uniform, some civilian clothes and an overnight bag were gone. He was coming back. Blair probably needed time to think. Blair wasn't lying he said he never killed a human being. His world changed more than Jim's had. The younger man was probably suffering worse than Jim was. 

Jim made himself a pot of coffee. After drinking two cups, he left for work. Blair wasn't in the bullpen. "Conner, have you seen Sandburg?" 

"Sandy talked to Simon first thing this morning then left." Conner shrugged her shoulders. 

Jim went to see Simon. "Conner said Sandburg saw you first thing this morning." 

"He asked to transfer to Narcotics. He's doing paperwork until the transfer goes through and gets assigned to a senior partner." 

"You approved the transfer?" 

"You and Sandburg shouldn't work together. I wouldn't let a husband and wife work together." 

"I'm going down there." 

"You go downstairs and start a lover's quarrel in front of the squad room, I'll have your badge." 

"What do you expect me to do?" 

"Finish up your paperwork. If you need Sandburg to sign anything, I'll have Conner walk it down." 

"That's it?" 

"You can talk to me mano a mano after work tomorrow. I want to hear nothing about it until then." 

Jim walked to him desk and start his paperwork, slamming his fist on the desk periodically. Rafe walked over. "Ellison, some of us are trying to work." 

"Sandburg walked out on me." 

"It's about time. I'm amazed that he put up with your shit as long as he did." 

When Jim got home, Blair's room was empty. All that was left was an empty desk and a stripped futon. Jim dialed Simon. "He left me." 

"What did you do this time?" 

"I don't know." 

"You'll see Blair tomorrow. You have to be there for the settlement with Sid and the publishing company. Did you say something stupid about Blair betraying you, again? Because if you did, I wouldn't blame him for leaving." 

"No, if I insulted him, it wasn't intentional. What am I going to do?" 

"Cry yourself to sleep a few nights and move on. That is what I did after Joan left. I have stuff to do. We can talk after work tomorrow." 

"Simon, I loved him more than I thought it was possible to love anyone." 

"Tell him. Maybe it isn't too late." Simon hanged up. 

* * *

Jim got in his truck, drove to Juan Lopez's kennels, parked the truck near Blair's Volvo, and knocked on the door. A boy of thirteen wearing only a loose fitting tee shirt in the forty-degree weather met him at the door. "I would like to speak to your father." 

Juan came to the door wearing the robe that he wore their first meeting. "Come in. Blair doesn't want to speak to you." 

The house felt no warmer than outside. Blair always complained about being cold; he would be miserable and hide under blankets. "We have a meeting with our lawyer about the settlement from Sid and publishing company." 

"I'll get him," Juan said. 

Camilla and Blair come out of the tiny kitchen. "Hello, Jim," she said. 

"Chief, I want you to come home." 

"You said you missed me while you were petting my coat. You don't know how much that hurt." 

"Chief, I love you. I'm willing to accept the skeletons in your closet. I'm not perfect myself. Forgive me for panicking." 

"You've looked at me with disgust since you've known." 

Jim put his hand on Blair's face. "You're all I think about. I'll learn to accept it." 

"I don't want you to tolerate me." 

"What do you want?" 

"I need time to think. I gave up my career for you. You barely thanked me. Perhaps, we can date." 

"After living together for four years, you want to have lunch. I'll see you at the lawyer's office. Blair, we're a team. What do you want from me?" 

"Please, leave. I'd like to continue to have your medical power of attorney. I know more about your medical problems than anyone else. Now that you know my secret, you should keep my medical power of attorney. You can prevent me from having long hospital stays." 

"I'm a convenience to you." 

"Jim, you were my life for four years. I didn't go to Borneo because I loved you. I should have told you years ago, but I was taught to tell no one. Ever!" 

"How can you live here?" 

"I'll manage." Blair set up a chessboard. "Antonio, do you want to play me?" 

"Blair, I beat you three times," said the boy. 

"I'm getting better. After dinner, we can play Scrabble." 

"Jim, he sucks at chess," the boy said. 

"Blair is good at Scrabble. He knows long words," said Jim. 

Marla, the eleven year old, brought out the Spanish version of Scrabble. 

"No fair," Blair said. "I haven't spoken Spanish as first language in seven years." 

Camilla said, "Around here, the Spanish version gets more use than the English version. Jim, I'd invite you to dinner, but I didn't cook the meat." 

Blair shrugged his shoulders. "I eat bait." 

"But not sauerkraut," said Jim. "Venison?" 

"Even if we cooked it, it wouldn't be fit for human consumption. You know when hunters do bait and shot. The pack collects the carrion after we feast." 

"Free food," Tony said. "Papa's truck can carry three deer. Cut them up and put them in the freezer." 

"You do what you can," Camilla said. "We have to feed us and the dogs." 

"It smells fresh," Jim said. 

"It was frozen," Camilla said. "You can't have the neighbor's complain. We already had the kids taken twice. It's a waste; they are always home that night." 

"I've been foster care a number of times myself; they really think they can kidnap a werewolf," Blair said. 

"Do you mind if I use your grill?" Jim asked. 

"I really don't suggest eating it," Camilla said. 

"Jim's nose is pretty good," Blair said. "He would know if it was diseased or had toxins." 

"Just don't blame me if you get sick," Camilla said. 

Blair put his arm around Jim as Jim cooked his food on the grill. "Do you want to date?" 

"I think we need to get to know each other again. Maybe dating isn't a bad idea," Jim said. "Join me for lunch tomorrow." 

"We have to be at lawyer's office at one." 

"Eleven thirty." 

Jim sat on a worn lawn chair near the grill. "Do you want yours cooked?" 

"Sure. I only eat worms and bugs raw," Blair teased. 

"And a man's leg." 

"Please, you don't have to remind of that." 

"I love you." 

"No, you don't." Blair put his hand on Jim's shoulder. "You wouldn't have said that if you did." 

"Can I kiss you?" Jim asked. 

"Go." 

Ria, wearing a thin dress, came over to the grill. "Hi, Jim. We keep the grill around for human company." 

"Hola, Ria." Jim understood the implied meaning. 

"I'm not going to bite your head off." Ria licked her lips. "I'm more the jugular type." 

"Don't threatened a cop," said Blair. 

"I was teasing. Can't you tell a joke?" Ria said. 

"I'm going. I'll see you at lunch," Jim said. 

"You might as well stay and eat your steak," Ria said. "The two hundred pound cop is frightened by ninety-eight pound me. I'm only dangerous if you're a muskrat or a beaver." 

"Blair is at least as strong as two men his size. Don't assume I'm ignorant." Jim didn't like playing games with the she-wolf. 

Blair put the food on a plate and gave Jim a fork and knife. "She won't hurt you." 

"He's mine. Don't you forget it," Ria said. 

"Nobody owns Blair," Jim said. "Darling, if you don't treat him right, he'll be gone in a moment's notice." 

"Jim, he came here." Ria flicked her hair back. "That says something." 

"He needs a little time. He'll be home in a week," Jim said. 

"Don't talk for me," Blair said. 

Jim put down his food and kissed Blair's forehead. "See you, tomorrow." 

"Good night." Blair waved as Jim walked to his truck and started to eat the food that he served Jim. 

"He left his food." Ria rubbed against Blair. 

"I'm not surprised." 

"Are you wearing half your closet?" 

"I get cold easily; Jim teased me about it." 

"The sooner you take some of those clothes off; the sooner you will acclimate to the lack of heat. We only use the fireplace in the dead of winter. The rest of the year body heat is enough." 

Blair ate the food. "Ria, go inside and eat. I need to be alone." 

"You're mine." 

"I still love him." 

"What did you see in the fucking human?" 

"He is generous, caring and has the body of Adonis." 

"He's rude, pale and balding." 

"I never agreed to love you. You can share my body heat and have my children." 

"You'll love me in time." 

Blair returned to eating the steak Jim left behind. He shouldn't have insulted her like that. "Ria, I want us to start dating and to act betrothed." 

"What do you want?" 

"To go places: the mall, library, museums, movies." Blair took the empty plate inside. He lay beside the sleeping thirteen year old. Scrabble would have to wait another day. 

"I know we have been hunting together since I've been on the rag," said Ria, pausing between words. "I have wrote you, but it isn't the same as seeing you in human form. We're virtually fucking strangers." 

"Going these places would give us an opportunity to be together without the pressure without having to talk the whole time. If you are embarrassed because I'm older than you, I can shave close. I'm told that I can pass for seventeen." Blair was trying to put Ria at ease, but the other detectives called him a kid even a few that were younger than him. He was just asked to go undercover at a high school. 

"The mall, library, movies sound great," Ria said. "The children would enjoy getting out of the house." 

"It's a date. Tomorrow after work, I will take you Marla, and Tony to the mall. We can get some new winter clothes." Blair took off his clothes and changed into a wolf. Growing fur was one way to stay warm. Ria and her younger sister also changed shape and joined him on the area rug. Blair closed his eyes and went to sleep. 

* * *

The following morning, Ria handed Blair a plate of eggs, Spam and fried potatoes. "I need to go to school." 

"Thanks for breakfast," Blair said. "I miss Jim." 

"You're seeing him at lunch," Camilla said. 

"We have to see my lawyer. We're supposed to get the first check of the settlement. It feel like my life changed overnight," Blair said. 

"Does he give good head?" Tony asked. 

"Out of the mouth of babes," Camilla asked. 

"I don't know. We never did more than cuddle," Blair said. 

"I know you miss him," Camilla said. "Tony is promised to a girl. She's joining our household within the year. His attitude will change when he's an adult." 

"Jim smells so good," Marla, the eleven old, said, "I'd like to lick him all over." 

"He can't accept me," Blair said. 

"I'm going to stay with Louise and Hannah in that big house," Ria said. 

"Until the state kicks them out because two teenage girls can't afford the property tax," Tony said. 

"My father must have left them something," Blair said. 

"Like they would pay the fucking tax," Tony said. "We're taught at a young age not to trust the government." 

Blair smiled. 

"It's good to have someone fighting on our side," Juan said. 

"I won't be a fucking rookie forever." Blair took his gym bag and left. 

The business with the lawyer went well. After they put the money in an account to pay off Blair's student loans, Jim watched Blair walk away. Under Blair's skin lay a man-killing beast. His beautiful angel-faced Blair couldn't be man-eating monster. Still covered in human blood, Blair had walked with his tail wagging over to Jim. He hated that he couldn't get those images out of his head. 

Jim ran over to Blair. "Why don't go out for ice cream?" 

"I have to get back to work." 

"You know the game. We might as well take the whole afternoon off. Chief, we need to talk." 

"I'm a rookie and they are going to undo all the work I did on their computer system." 

"Fix it tomorrow." Jim put his hand on Blair's shoulder. "I'm sorry about the way I treated you." 

"You apologize infrequently and too late." 

"I don't regret the time that we spent together." Jim took Blair's hand in his. 

"You're holding my hand in public." 

"Like anyone cares." 

"If they delete all their active files, they will blame me." 

"Baby your computers. You own me an ice cream," Jim said. 

"Simon is probably laughing about us breaking up," Blair said. 

"Rafe says that it was about time." 

"Then, he asked you for a date." 

"I think he wants your new number." 

"Tell him that my cell phone number hasn't changed. Once our breakup hits the rumor mill, half of Vice will be asking you out." 

"I wish, but I'm rumored to be a half-psychotic asshole." 

"Only half." Blair teased and looked at his hand still in Jim's hand not feeling like moving it. 

"So do you want to date?" Jim asked. 

"You're fucking serious." 

"I've taken you for granted. I'll never do that again." 

"Good-bye, Jim. Naomi was willing to live with the pack and accept our lifestyle. You aren't that giving." 

"What do you mean that I'm not that giving?" 

"You kept your clothes on. Not only that, you stayed on that cushion on the floor." 

"That sofa was filthy." 

"That isn't the point. When in Rome. A hut in Zaire isn't up to American standards of cleanliness. You eat the food and accept the company of a daughter if offered." 

"Suddenly, you're an anthropologist." 

"It's the same thing; it's another culture. I tell you to behave and you stare at us like we're lab rats. Nothing I've said about studying indigenous cultures has sunk into your thick skull. Why am I talking to hear myself speak?" Blair walked away. Blair was a cop because he lost his standing at the university for Jim's sake. That didn't make him an idiot. His life was making lemonade out of lemons. 

* * *

Simon met Jim at the bar after work. "I'm sorry." 

"I begged him for forgiveness. I can't beg anymore." 

"I suppose after the dissertation fiasco I can understand him moving out." 

Jim laughed. "He's living in a house that should be condemned by the board of health." 

"Is he happy?" 

"He looks so sad. He doesn't think I can bend anymore. I unintentional insulted his family." 

"Naomi?" 

"Naomi accepts my insults. Since his father died, a few of his cousins are interested in meeting him." 

"He's staying with them? Jim, not everyone is born with a silver spoon in his mouth." 

"Whatever." 

Jim recognized the man sitting next to as Mike Taylor from Vice. 

"Jim." The tall blonde man that had crows' feet around his blue-gray eyes extended his hand to Jim. 

"Mike. It's good to see you. Join me for a game of pool." Jim picked up his beer from the bar. 

"Sure. I heard you and Sandburg split." 

"He moved out." Jim racked the balls. "What are you having?" 

"Molson." 

* * *

Blair went over to the loft that evening to ask Jim what he intended to do about the joint ownership of the loft and the bank accounts. Blair smelled the odor of another man on Jim. He couldn't believe he was replaced so quickly. Mike came out of the shower wearing only a towel. 

"Hi, Taylor. I just came over to discuss what do about the loft," Blair said. 

"I'll go upstairs," Mike said. "Don't mind me." 

"I'll bring you the paperwork to sign tomorrow. We can get it notarized," Jim said. "I already took my name of the joint accounts. You can keep the money." 

"Thanks, Jim," Blair said. 

"How can you live in that house?" 

"Juan and I decided to build another house on the property after the publishing company settles. We're planning to build a five bedroom half underground house with solar panels. My half-sisters are getting married this summer so the Al's house is going on the market. That way the pack will be able to stay in a nicer house that still smells like dogs." 

"You have everything planned." 

"I can't believe how fast I was replaced." 

"He's just spending the night. You're sleeping with Juan." 

Blair started counting on his fingers. "And his wife, his mother, his five children and anyone that wants to stop by for the night. Get your mind out of the gutter." 

"How can you live like that?" 

"I've lived in communes most of my childhood. Naomi and I spent close to five years with the pack. I then lived in a dorm. The room under the stairs wasn't a palace. I don't need much space." 

"My father called you white trash. You don't have to prove him right." 

"It's a different society, different rules," shouted Blair. "That's what I study when I study anthropology. Wolves huddle together to keep warm and protect the cubs. It isn't the same thing as what you do with Taylor." 

"Now you are getting personal; they're still white trash." 

"The Lopezes are Sephardic," said Blair. "The original curse was placed on a small Jewish community in Spain. A so-called Christian paid a gypsy to curse a Jewish shopkeeper and his family." 

"Are you sure that isn't a story they just tell you?" 

"I wasn't alive in the thirteenth century. Other packs have other stories so it might be true. My father was killed by a pack that claimed to originate in Germany." 

"You must come across ones with the same story as you." 

"Grandmother tried to gather our history while Naomi and I were staying with them. She found a pack with the same story living in the Pyrenees. We probably splintered from them centuries ago." 

"Someone today could become a werewolf by a curse?" 

"If someone knew the technique," Blair said. "I don't dabble in the black arts. I do strictly white magic." 

"I don't care if you know your history; you're a college graduate." 

"You have no right to judge me. You were born into money. What do you know? I was proud of Camilla when she told the social worker from Ria's school that she wasn't interested in food stamps and she didn't take charity." 

"Do most packs live as poorly you?" 

"The Lopezes aren't poor. They have a roof over their head and food in their bellies. So they are below the level that our government considers to be the poverty level. In other countries, they would be considered filthy rich." 

"I'm surprised the social worker didn't lecture her about birth control." 

"She would have been stepping out of bounds. The Lopez children are loved and Ria is looking forward to having children of her own." 

Jim gave Blair a dirty look. "Your children." 

Mike came down wearing jeans and tee shirt. "I noticed you weren't talking money." 

"Jim has been talking money the whole fucking time. He thinks the family that I'm living with is trailer trash." 

"As long they have running water," Mike said. 

"No working water heater, but lots running water." Blair left. After all they had been through, it was over. Blair wouldn't be returning to the loft. They still had each other's medical power of attorney; there was no point in involving others in their secrets. After they saw the notary that would be the extent of their relationship. 

* * *

Blair received the checked from publishing company. A million dollars. Juan and Blair discussed having a contractor build a new house on the land. They would start work as soon as they finalized plans with the architect. Spring was just around the corner. They ended up dividing the lot into the Lopez Kennels and The Sandburg estate. It didn't change anything. It only meant on paper that Blair owned fifty per cent of the land and Juan owned the other fifty per cent. 

"You don't have to give me the land," Blair said. 

"It's only half my land and the house is being built with your money. You buy my children clothing; it is the least I can do," Juan said. "Besides, the value of the land will go up with a nice house on the property." 

"I understand if we had to sell, it would be a mess in court if one of us owned the land and the other owned the property," Blair said. 

"I can't believe how comfortable you are here." 

"I've being hunting with the adolescents since I started Rainer." Blair snuggled against Juan as Tony came into the room. 

"Did you finish your studies for the day?" Juan asked. 

"Yes, Dad," Tony said, "and the dogs are feed." 

"I want you to have an easier life than my father," Juan said. 

"Grandpapa likes driving a truck," Tony said. 

"He worked in a factory for twenty years," Juan said. 

"Most pack members have ordinary jobs," Tony said. "There is no shame in laying bricks or working in the quarry." 

"He's right," Blair said. "I had hoped to be a college professor and I'm now a cop." 

"We're having adult conversation," Juan said to his son. 

"I'm an adult; I am thirteen." 

"I didn't think you practiced Judaism since the fourteenth century," said Blair. 

"I think it was the fifteenth; I'll have to ask Grandmother," Juan said before he started to lick Blair's ear. 

Blair whispered, "You shouldn't do that." 

"I won't do it if it bothers you." Juan put his head on Blair's chest. 

"I'm going over a friend's house," Tony said. 

"Pack?" Juan asked. 

"No, I'll be back before dark," Tony said as he walked out the door. 

"You shouldn't fondle me in front of the kids," Blair said. 

"I fondle you and everybody else. Don't think you're that great. You feel good." Juan returned to fondling Blair's chest hair. "Blair, the children are aware of their bodies. I gave Tony the lecture about not getting his sisters pregnant. I'm getting him a wife as soon as possible." 

"Kiss me." Blair lifted Juan's chin and lifted his face so their eyes met. Blair opened his mouth slightly and placed his lips against Juan's. Juan responded in kind. Blair felt like his tonsils were going to be pulled out. "Wow." 

"Nice? I'll take good care of you." Juan put his hand on Blair's hard-on. "Don't worry about a thing." 

"After four years, Jim and I have never." Blair pulled away. 

"Let me." 

"Ria could come through that door." Blair got up from the sofa. 

"I gave her enough money to go out to a movie with her girlfriends. We sold a couple puppies this morning. Camilla is out buying the baby clothes. She'll eat at the mall. We have time." 

"I've been so comfortable here. Please, don't ruin it." 

"Your father was wrong to tell you to be celibate all your life. You need to express your sexuality. I try to marry pack members soon after they mature. Louise is marrying this month and your other sister will when the weather is warmer. I'm talking to three packs about Marla. I want the best for all my adolescents." 

"I'm not an fucking adolescent." 

"You shouldn't feel ashamed of your sexuality. Share it with me. It's beautiful." Juan put his hands out to Blair. "Join me. We can go to a bedroom if you prefer." 

"Juan, my hand works just fine." Blair looked at his feet. 

"What difference would it make if it was my hand?" 

"Lots." 

"A hand is a hand. You should have had a wife for fifteen years. I can't give you back those years. Please, sit with me." 

Blair put some clothes on. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back to hunt with Tony and Ria tonight." 

"Why must you fight something that feels good?" 

"My sexuality isn't a game." 

"I didn't think it was. Al wanted you to bottle it away like you weren't fucking human. It's unnatural for a man to go without relief." 

"You set it up so we would be alone." Blair stepped toward the door. 

"I didn't know that the couple would pick up the puppies today." Juan got up from the sofa. "I want you to be comfortable with me." 

"You blew it then." 

"Your sexuality is a gift. You should be sharing it with someone instead of keeping it to yourself. Al was so wrong." 

Blair walked out the door. He felt trapped. He needed the pack for survival but he didn't want Juan to treat him like a possession. He wondered if Jim wanted that ice cream as Blair dialed Jim's number on his cell phone. "Jim, you still own me an ice cream." 

"I'd love to meet you at our favorite ice cream parlor," Jim said. 

"I'll see you there in ten minutes." Blair felt his pockets for his car keys. Blair arrived at the ice cream parlor before Jim and stood near the door. 

"Let's get a seat," Jim said as he arrived. "What happened?" 

"Juan made a fucking pass at me," Blair said. 

Jim walked Blair to a booth after the noticing the seat yourself sign. "What are you going to do?" 

"I'm sorry that I laughed at you. You were right about Juan." Blair looked at the menu although he had decided that he didn't want food only a sundae. "I feel like I have no fucking choice. He's my alpha." 

"You can't tell him no." 

"Not for long. He's right. It felt good to be near someone and not be afraid that I could hurt him. He tries to be a good alpha but he is still young." 

The waitress took their order. 

"Chief, you shouldn't have to do anything that you don't want to do." Jim looked into Blair's blue eyes. 

"I can't fucking refuse him. You don't understand." 

"Are you going to go back and tell him that?" 

"I won't say a fucking thing." 

"That is unlike you to give up." Jim touched Blair's face. "You told me no for better than a year." 

"Because I was afraid that I could hurt you." Blair started to cry silently. 

"You're hurting. Just say the word and your room is yours." 

"And Mike." 

"He has an apartment. I could see him there." Jim touched Blair's lip with his thumb. 

"It's too late for us. I'm promised to Ria. Juan is my alpha; I have to obey him. Jim, I shouldn't have told you." 

"I don't mind listening to you talk." Jim took Blair's hand in his. "I miss hearing your constant chatter. Joel hardly speaks when we're on stake out. His voice brings me out of a zone out but he doesn't ground me like you do." 

"Are you okay?" 

"I'm managing. I haven't told Mike that I'm a sentinel. I don't know how to explain to him that I have senses that off the scale." Jim was silent as the waitress brought their orders to the table. "Eat your sundae. You're a growing boy." 

"I feel like a kid near Juan. He has five children and two more on the way. He treats me like one of the adolescents in the pack. I'm only four years younger than him." Blair dug into his ice cream. 

"Talk to him about what you are feeling." 

"Tell Mike." 

"Once it is more than a few nights. I don't want all of Vice knowing that I have enhanced senses." 

"How long you think you'll need to know if Mike is the one?" 

"I thought you were the one." 

"I wish I was." 

"Chief, I'm sorry." 

* * *

Blair drove back to Juan's house after finishing his ice cream. Juan was watering the dogs. His wife and children were in the house. Blair hugged Juan. "You were right." 

"Do you want to take a walk?" 

Blair nodded. 

"Give me your burden. Let me help you." Juan's voice sounded so soothing. 

"I'm afraid." 

"Let me kiss you." Juan stroked Blair's face. "You don't need to be afraid with me. I'm your alpha. It's my job to care for your needs." 

Blair allowed Juan to kiss him. "I need so much." 

"Let me take a few of these heavy clothes off you," Juan whispered before he started to kiss Blair's neck. 

"I have my wallet and car keys in my pocket." 

"Put them somewhere safe," Juan said releasing Blair from his embrace. 

Blair returned only in a long tee shirt and boxer's shorts in the cold misty night air near the kennels. "Better." Blair put Juan's hand on his chest. 

"You're still overdressed." Juan nibbled on Blair's ear and then pulled off Blair's tee shirt. Juan stroked Blair's chest and licked his chest hair. "Feel good." 

"Great." 

"If I do anything that feels bad, tell me and I will stop. I've never been intimate with another man before." 

"Why me?" Blair moved to area in the yard that still had some grass and wasn't only a patch of mud. 

"It's my job to give you what you need." Juan started to stroke Blair's sex. 

"That's good." Blair kissed Juan again as they fell into the soft ground. 

Juan helped Blair onto his hands and knees. "It shouldn't be so different from doing my wife this way." 

"Except that I have a prostate." 

"Brace yourself. I'm going in dry. Camilla loves it this way; she wakes the children with her howling." 

Blair felt some pressure and pain but then it felt very good. He didn't change as he felt intense pleasure start as Juan hit his prostate hard. Juan was much rougher than a normal man would have been, but a normal man couldn't heal such tearing in a day or so. Blair was screaming not sure if it was pleasure or pain as Juan hit him harder and harder. Juan kissed Blair's back after he pulled out. "Thanks," Blair whispered. 

"Anytime. You better find the children if you want to get some hunting in tonight." 

"I shouldn't have walked away. You're my alpha." 

"Don't mention it." 

"I won't." Blair felt the sting in his bottom but felt better about himself. He had been properly fucked and didn't change; he had more control than he thought. No man would have been that rough with him, but he didn't change although it had been quite intense. Blair wondered if Juan intended to fuck him again and if he would let him do it. Juan was his alpha; all he needed to do was ask and Blair would be willing. There was no question of who was in charge. 

Blair picked up on the muddy tee shirt and boxers shorts and walked into the house. Tony and Marla were asleep beside their mother. The seven year old, Ronaldo, was curled up in a roll a few inches from the others. Ria must have been still out with friends, with his sisters or hunting. Blair put the dirty clothes in the hamper and allowed himself to change. He closed his eyes as he listened to his stomach growl. He would need to hunt alone or find Ria. He walked to the yard and wander into the woods. He found a muskrat rather quickly and caught it without trouble. Now, he could sleep without having to listen to his stomach rumble. 

The next evening, Blair looked at Juan as he took off his clothes after returning from work. It was going to be a long, cold winter. He was used to layering his clothes; now the culture norm was nudity. He didn't have as many goosebumps. He looked forward to the spring and the workmen breaking ground for his new house. Juan went outside ignoring Blair. Blair turned on the hose to water the dogs. "I'm sorry about last night." 

"I gave you what you needed." Juan put food out for the dogs. 

"Thank you. I learned that I had more control than I thought. I appreciate it." 

"You might be able to change back before dawn. Try. Focus. You might not do it the first time that you try, but don't give up. It took Camilla almost of year of concentrating to manage it, but it can be done." Juan handed Blair a shovel. "Clean the kennels." 

"Thanks for believing in me." 

"You impressed me when you killed that fucking rogue. Ria couldn't have killed the larger male alone but you probably could have done it without her help. You showed me that you are no fucking weakling." Juan put out more food for the dogs. 

"You don't have to kiss me, again." 

Juan kissed Blair in one of the cages surrounded by the smell of dog shit. "Blair, if you want more than a kiss, just ask." 

"Shit, I can't ask for sex." Blair cleaned out the shit with his shovel. The cages would need to be hosed. Over half the bitches were pregnant. The sale of the puppies would bring in more than several months police salary. Juan wasn't poor. His assets were tied up in livestock. 

"I told you that you don't need to be ashamed. We all have the same fucking desires." 

"I was afraid to give my body to Jim and you showed me that I had nothing to fear too late." What Juan did the night before could have torn a normal man's insides apart. Blair had complete control; he didn't change. It didn't matter in the long run; Jim couldn't handle being with a werewolf. He had issue with vigilante justice and cannibalism. If Blair had slept with Jim, the situation would have been more awkward. "Your daughter will see us kiss." 

"I kiss other pack members." 

"Not the way you kissed me last night." Blair touched Juan's arm. "I know that pack touch more than human but you crossed the line last night." 

"There are no fucking lines. I give my pack members what need to protect our pack." Juan put his hand on Blair's hand a moment before returning to his chores. 

"You fucked me for political reasons." 

"Hell, no. I fucked you because you needed to be fucked and you have a nice ass. I wouldn't mind fucking you again, but the ball is your court." 

* * *

Two months later, Ria cuddled on the area rug with Blair after Blair had spent a long day at work. "So what happened?" 

"Jim is living with another man." 

"Good for him. You're all mine now." 

"All yours." He kissed her. 

"I'm moving home, then. Your sisters are crazy. Hannah moved out to marry into another pack and Louise is fixing up the house for sale. She doesn't need me around." 

"We can't go to police functions until you're eighteen." 

"I'm cool with that. You're my secret love. If we were still wandering northern Spain, you could have married me when I turned twelve and you would have never moved in with your sentinel." She licked his ear. 

Blair laughed. "It's good to be home." 

Ria tickled Blair. "No goosebumps. I told you would adjust. Mama is half like you and she goes around naked." 

"I found a hidden door in a vacant house with a kilo cocaine. We busted a bunch of squatters. I felt sorry for them. At least, they get a hot meal." 

"What is funny?" 

"You're tickling me." Blair started to tickle Ria. 

"You shouldn't be telling me police business." 

"It's a matter of public record. I hope Kincaid gets the paper in jail. Detective Sandburg arresting officer." Blair laughed more. "I told him I was Lt. Sandburg from Narcotics." 

* * *

End lonewolf by Athena: athena@fateordestiny.com

Author and story notes above.

  
Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


End file.
